CONSENT TO COUNSELING

Our Goal – Our goal in providing Christian counseling is to help you meet the challenges of life in a way that will please and honor the Lord Jesus Christ and allow you to fully enjoy His love and plans for your life.

Biblical Basis – We believe that the Bible provides thorough guidance and instruction for faith and life. Therefore, our counseling is based on scriptural principles rather than those of typical secular psychology. Neither the pastoral nor the lay counselors of this church are trained or licensed as psychotherapists or mental health professionals. We seek to ‘make disciples’ as Jesus Christ commanded, and thus seek to help you in developing your relationship with Him.

Confidentiality – Confidentiality is an important aspect of the counseling process, and we will carefully guard the information you entrust to us. This completed form and any pertinent information will be filed with Royalhouse Chapel International for documentation/reference purposes.

There are five situations when it may be necessary for us to share certain information with others: when a counselor is uncertain of how to address a particular problem and needs to seek advice from another pastor or elder in this church; when a counselee attends another church and it is necessary to talk with his or her pastor or elders; when there is a clear indication that someone may be harmed unless others intervene; when a person persistently refuses to renounce a particular sin and it becomes necessary to seek the assistance of others in the church to encourage repentance and reconciliation; or when a crime has been committed. (see Proverbs 15:22; Proverbs 24:11; Matthew 18:15-20; Deut. 13:6-8).

Please be assured that our counselors strongly prefer not to disclose personal information to others, and they will make every effort to help you find ways to resolve a problem as privately as possible.

Resolution of Conflicts – On rare occasions a conflict may develop between a counselor and a counselee. In order to make sure that any such conflicts will beresolved in a biblical and faithful manner, we require all of our counselees to agree that any dispute that arises with a counselor or with this church as a result of counseling will be settled by mediation and, if necessary, legally binding arbitration.

After completing this form and having clarified the principles and policies of our counseling ministry, we welcome the opportunity to minister to you in the name of Christ and to be used by Him as He helps you to grow in spiritual maturity and prepares you for usefulness in His body.